T1’s victory over LNG Esports has sparked a slight “frenzy” in the global LoL community. The reason is that LNG has been regarded as quite comparable to JD Gaming – the top contender for the championship of Worlds 2023 currently. However, when facing T1, the “Suzhou Unicorn” performed surprisingly poorly. In fact, Tarzan – a player also known as the “Jungle God” couldn’t secure any Dragon or Baron buffs throughout the 3 games. Notably, the only Rift Herald that LNG managed to acquire was unable to attack any towers.
Speaking of LNG’s poor performance, it must be emphasized that T1 played exceptionally well. Each position had a flawless performance, and this time, no one made any mistakes, not even a minor error in movement. However, there is a special factor that T1 showcased right from their match against Bilibili Gaming and became even more evident in the match against LNG: the extensive champion pool of the bot lane duo Gumayusi – Keria has returned.
Known for being some of the best players with a vast champion pool in the professional LoL scene, the duo Gumayusi – Keria had to limit themselves to more meta-appropriate picks. Therefore, when patch 13.19 for Worlds 2023 was released, many opinions suggested this version was tailored for T1 as the champions favored by the duo were powered up again. Nevertheless, T1 still impressed and secured victories with less common picks, such as Varus and Senna. According to the specialized site Gol.gg, Varus has only been played 3 times since the Swiss round and achieved 2 victories, both in the hands of Gumayusi.
Additionally, the combination formula that maximizes the extensive champion pool of Gumayusi – Keria has brought about 8 different bot lane champion pairs throughout T1’s 9 games in Worlds 2023 so far. Notably, all 8 champion pairs have achieved a 100% win rate in lane. In the 2 matches where Gumayusi had to use meta champions Kai’Sa and Xayah, they also did not use their familiar support champions (Alistar, Rakan), but rather Kai’Sa – Bard and Xayah – Tahm Kench.
The extensive champion pool of Gumayusi – Keria has significantly contributed to T1’s unbeaten streak in Spring 2022 and their solid performances leading up to various tournament finals thereafter. Now, JDG must truly be cautious as this formula has returned and is showing the kind of dominance T1 once had in the past.